Loeb poised for sixth Monte Carlo title

World champion Sebastien Loeb was poised to clinch a sixth victory in the Monte Carlo Rally after building up a huge lead of 2min 41.6sec on Saturday. French driver Loeb steered his Citroen DS3 coolly around Saturday's four mountain stages in the principality, happy to cut out the risks and keep his advantage. Dani Sordo continues to hold second in his Mini but Petter Solberg closed to within 19.1sec of the Spaniard in his Ford Fiesta after winning three of the day's four stages. "We have one small stage tomorrow but at the moment it has been great and really fantastic to drive those stages with an atmosphere like that," said Loeb. "It’s a real pleasure for me to be here and leading the rally right now." Sordo added: "Petter was pushing hard but I think the gap is now too much for him. To finish second is really important because we can show that the Mini can do a really good job." Fourth-placed Mikko Hirvonen, in the second factory Citroen, had put Solberg under pressure when he went fastest of all on Saturday’s first test, only for a spin later in the day to drop him back. Russian Evgeny Novikov completed day four in fifth overall, with Fiesta team-mate Francois Delecour overcoming power-steering issues to hold sixth.